Trial Begins for Alleged Mastermind of Tupac Shakur Murder

The murder trial of Duane Keffe D Davis has begun in Las Vegas, Nevada, nearly 30 years after the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur. Davis, a 63 year old former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, is accused of orchestrating the attack and providing the weapon used in the crime. He has pleaded not guilty and faces a potential sentence of life in prison. The proceedings are expected to last between four and six weeks.

On September 7, 1996, Shakur was traveling in a BMW with Suge Knight, the co founder of Death Row Records, when they were shot at from a white Cadillac. Shakur died six days later at the age of 25. Prosecutors allege that Davis organized the retaliation after Knight and Shakur assaulted Orlando Baby Lane Anderson, the nephew of Davis, following a Mike Tyson boxing match. While the prosecution seeks to prove Davis was the mastermind, reports indicate it is unlikely the trial will identify the specific person who fired the shots.

Evidence in the case includes memoirs published by Davis in 2019 and previous interviews where he claimed to be in the Cadillac during the shooting. In those accounts, he suggested his nephew was the shooter. However, Davis now denies these claims, asserting that he was in Los Angeles on the night of the murder and that his memoirs were fictionalized by a co author for commercial reasons. His legal team previously attempted to block the use of the memoirs and a 2008 police interrogation as evidence, but those attempts were unsuccessful.